Superstitious Nurse

*cue the music*

...very superstitious writings on the wall...

You bet your ass we’re superstitious! Dare we say there’s some evidence for that! Here we are in the eye of the storm; your patients are happy with you; you have finished your charting for the next four hours...you know the feeling. Then, all of the sudden you hear it. Someone says the "Q" or "S" word! Every time we hear someone say the “quiet” or “slow”, all hell breaks loose...

Why? Someone says those words or something like them and suddenly the pager goes off!

Here come the admits!

Bed alarms are going off!

Crazy orders start coming in!

Directory isn’t paging the right physicians!

You get the idea...but we did have that calm before the storm for someone to point it out and jinx us. But why is that? When did nurses become this way? Can you recall being superstitious before going into healthcare? It’s so bizarre.

Why do the craziest scenarios happen on a full moon? Why do codes come and deaths come in 3's? Why is it when someone says, “Boy, it sure is slow around here,” you want to leap over the nurses' station... *deep breaths*

Then of course there are the superstitions surrounding full moons. Ask any medical professional and they will tell you that night shift on a full moon is one of the worst places to be. Day shift is not great, but patients seem to act up in the strangest ways at night. However, a study cited in an article from Healthcare Business & Technology stated that over a four year the number and types of admissions have not been affected by the full moon phenomenon. Nurses and other healthcare workers will steadfastly stick to this myth.

Don't forget about how we miraculously say a patient’s name and they get admitted? Mind you, they’d have to have “frequent flyer” status. While this club does not have a punch card, you know who they are. We have to admit though, it is somewhat of a compliment for patients to return to our hospitals. They have other options of where to seek care, so there must be lots that we’re doing right. Don't let those HCAHP scores bring you down!

By the end of shift, you’re so happy you’re done and about to leave work. However, because life is handing you lemon after lemon, you suddenly get a stroke admit. At the bless'ed. Last. Minute. At this point, you just pray you get everything done. So you go home, bathe, and therapeutically eat a pint of ice cream...no one will judge you. We’ve all been there. Enjoy.

A couple of weeks ago, we were just coming off of a full moon and it sure did feel like the odds were against us. We survived as always! If it wasn’t for our teammates helping, we would have drowned. That whole cliché of “team work makes the dream work” really is true especially in the care of others.

Tell us a scenario where you felt superstitious and everything went nuts on your unit. We will continue to monitor...